pop

Moon Tapes released their first official singles today, ‘A Little Bit Of Paris’ and ‘Sleepy’ (download). It follows the brilliant demo ‘Back In Love’, which I gushed about last November. The Amsterdam four piece craft new wave pop gems with a reverb-heavy, lo-fi charm. ‘A Little Bit Of Paris’ should sit well with fans of The Smiths, there’s also a dash of Alex Turner to the vocals. Bright days ahead!

Moon King‘s latest single ‘Roswell’ elegantly pairs accessibility and commercial appeal with hazy dream pop. I tip my hat! The Toronto duo (Daniel Benjamin and Maddy Wilde) could’ve opted for a short radio edit cut, but instead, ‘Roswell’ sprawls hypnotically across six minutes. 80′s synth sounds swell and stab throughout the final minutes. Which, oddly enough, compelled me to go and listen to The Neverending Story theme song on Youtube, I kid you not! What was the giant flying dog’s name again!? Moving on… Moon King’s new album ‘Secret Life’ is out April 14 via Last Gang. For fans of Still Corners, I Break Horses and Wye Oak.

Japan’s Koichi Yamanoha (formerly of Screaming Tea Party) works under the moniker Grimm Grimm and produces very colourful, spaced out tunes! His latest single ‘Kazega Fuitara Sayonara’ is out September 29 via Pickpocket Records (Kevin Shields own label with Charlotte Marionneau from Le Volume Courbe). It’s an unnerving oddity that’s packed with character. It gave me weird visuals of wind up toys walking in a circle, popping acid. *grin*

There’s something very compelling about Allegories ‘Funny Way Of Loving You’ that I can’t put my finger on! The hypnotic video helps, together with that amazing voice (that reminds me of Ian McCulloch from Echo & The Bunnymen). Truth is, nobody knows much about the Belize duo but I’m hoping there’s more from where the debut came from!

The 2014 Pedestrian Blogster Awards will be decided in just a few short weeks. A big thanks to all of those who have shown their support and given Sounds Better With Reverb a vote. If you haven’t had a chance – please click here! *THANKYOU*

The Pedestrian Blogster Awards have begun and (believe it or not) Sounds Better With Reverb is a finalist! Here’s our profile/Q&A page. We’re one of twenty music blogs now racing to claim glory, win stuff and spam their friends into voting. So far we’ve got… *let me add it up*…no votes at all. So if you could spare this sad bastard the embarrassment and VOTE HERE – it would be much appreciated! In the unlikely event that Sounds Better actually wins something, I’ll post a steamy photo (hacked from my personal iCloud). Thanks in advance for your mouse clicking patronage.